Shirin Ebadi, Winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize “Democracy: the Precondition to Peace” the Beatty Memorial Ideas for the World Homecoming Lecture Translated by Dr
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Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize “Democracy: The Precondition to Peace” The Beatty Memorial Ideas for the World Homecoming Lecture Translated by Dr. Minoo Derayeh McGill University, October 16, 2004 Respected Minister of Justice, Respected Vice- Principal, Respected Dean of Graduate Studies, Respected Professors, Respected Audience, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy that today I am addressing you in this celebrated institution. A university is a true home, it is a real asylum for all those who assign spirituality top priority in their activities. For those who dedicate themselves to humanity. It is a home not for those who value their bank accounts, but for those who are proud of the books they publish, and the students they have educated. (It is a home) for those who are not proud of material things. There are many Iranian students who study at this university. Generously, you have given knowledge to my compatriots. I thank you. Also, some of the best Iranian professors are teaching at this university. These Iranian professors and students are in fact the cultural ambassadors of Iran to Canada. Undoubtedly, the influence of different cultures on each other and acquaintance with the cultures of different nations pave the way for universal peace. But, of course, such influences cannot be one sided. Otherwise it would lead to assimilation. This would destroy nations. We are living in an era of globalization. An era that could gradually lead to the disappearance of geographical borders. It would be the culture of the countries which would define the borders. If we could not preserve our culture and language, we would disappear. Iran is not only a place on the globe; Iran lives in the soul and heart of every Iranian. Iran will live with its culture and preservation of its national traditions, its literature, its music and its art. So Iran exists only with all these things. It is our responsibility to pass this tradition to future generations, as it was passed from the previous generations to us. Where did the Egyptian civilization go? A civilization which ruled during its time. The Egyptian civilization was defeated by the Islamic civilization. It went through such sudden transformation that there is no sign of the ancient Egyptian language, Egyptian culture and civilization. But we preserved Iran. We accepted Islam as a religion, but we did not loose our Iranian identity. Even now, in some parts of Iran, for example in Abyaneh, people speak the Pahlavi Dari language. They do not want to lose the heritage of their ancestors. Beware not to lose your heritage. Beware not to lose your national identity. Otherwise we will be human beings with no roots and no foundation. Intercultural relationships should not result in cultural assimilation. Different cultures can find common ground and similarity while respecting the distinctiveness of each. They should identify their mutual needs and they should fulfill those needs equally. Democracy and human rights are the mutual needs of all cultures and all societies. Those who do not respect human rights and democracy in the name of cultural relativism are indeed disguising their dictatorial nature with cultural masks. They attempt to violate their nation in the name of national culture or religious culture. Unfortunately, recently another excuse is given for violation of human rights: that is, the theme of national security. War against terrorism is, of course, a legitimate and rightful struggle. However, it should be within the framework of regulations related to human rights. We should not exaggerate the mission of security so that, with that excuse, one can suppress any opponent’s voice. We must not allow the limitation of legal freedoms of a people in the name of conspiracy theories which are in fashion in many countries and through which hypothetical enemies are created. Unfortunately, this fashion of limiting freedoms seems to exist in western countries, for instance, in the United States, as well as in Islamic countries, such as Iran. In this situation, the task of defenders of human rights has become more difficult than in the past. They, (rights activists), continue their task under all kinds of limitations, threats, even loss of life, in order to make human rights universal, so that all people will have their rights respected. In Iran, the struggle for advancement of democracy has resulted in the imprisonment of human rights activists, the defenders of freedom of speech. I pay tribute to people such as Saaber, Ali Khani, Rahmani, Yussufi, Eshkevari, Akbar Ganji, Nasser Zarafshan, Hashem Aqajari, Sayamak Pourzand, Ali Reza Jabbari, and, many others, who are in chains because of their desire to bring freedom to people. Be praised the memory of those, the martyrs of freedom in Iran: Zahra Kazemi, who with her death voiced the truth which was not captured by her camera; Mohammad Mokhtari, Mohammad Jafar Pooyand, Saidi Sirjani, Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar, Zaalzadeh, Dr. Hossein Fatemi, Karim Poorshirazi, and many more who have lost their lives during the past decades. Ladies and Gentlemen, I come from the Middle East, a land under anarchy and destruction. It has been years that its innocent people have been burned in the fire of war, and the flames are getting larger and larger. There are some discussions about changing the map of the Middle East. This is a sign of cursed goals that are planned for this part of the world. At first it appears as if they are talking about democracy and human rights. 2 However, we know that the real goal is plundering the national wealth. In the process many innocent human beings are killed, their homes destroyed; and in the ruins of war people ask this question: “Who designed such fate for us?” As a Muslim who has lived all her life in Iran, I am familiar with the political situation in Muslim countries in the region. I must say there are two factors involved: First, lack or deficiency of democracy. Unfortunately, the majority of Muslim countries in this region are deprived of progressive democracy owing to historical reasons. And this results in people’s separation from their governments. I will give you an example: suppose the owner of a house leaves the door open and walks away. Obviously, thieves steal the valuable items in the house. In such a case the owner of the house is not much less guilty than the thief. People who are distancing themselves from their government are the same. Yet, people who are hungry, people who are not enjoying individual freedom, people who do not have freedom of speech and expression, those who cannot gain employment appropriate to their education unless they have connections, people who see their youth in jail, in short, people in despotic societies, whether religious or political despotism, those people do not want to support their government. These people under the military invasions are easily tricked by the invaders and they welcome the enemy. Or, they stay in their homes and they do not sacrifice their lives for a despotic government. An obvious example is Iraq. Years of despotic government had caused so much pain for people that they were unable to resist. In less than one month, the country was in the hands of the foreigners. It was even heard that the Iraqi people welcomed American soldiers. Because they presumed that American soldiers were better than Saddam’s executioners. Therefore, lack of democracy is the most important reason for the disorder in this region. And such disorder not only allows military invasion but also produces terrorism. Those people who are deprived, those people who have seen nothing but violence and weapons, are consequently familiar only with the language of force and weapons. They are people who have no one to hear their voice, people who have been under tyranny for generations, and the world remained indifferent towards them. Of course it is possible that these people will go insane, and set up a fire to burn themselves and others. If these people lived under a democratic and honest government, if these people were not hanged or jailed for expressing their political criticisms, if they were able to voice their demands through appropriate political channels instead of armed guerrilla acts, most probably the world would have taken a different turn. And now, let us look at the explanations that the governments of this region give for their disrespect of democracy. They argue that Islam is not compatible with democracy. And since their people are Muslims, and Islamic governments consider themselves as representatives and preservers of the religion of their people, hence they should act according to Islamic regulations, not according to democratic principles. 3 Of course, for this group, Islam is only the government’s interpretation of religion. And according to them all interpretations given by other Muslims and religious intellectuals are null and void. These governments take any criticism of any action of the government institutions as equal to criticism of religion, and consider their opponents as hypocrits and hence guilty of capital offense. They believe that since the democratic ideas and human rights are from the West, they cannot correspond with the culture of the East, and particularly not with Islamic culture. They consider freedom fighters as supporters of the West and as traitors, and punishment for such accusation is imprisonment. Some of these governments, in order to justify their views, rely on terms such as “Islamic democracy” or the rights of Muslim human beings. When these governments face criticism, they defend their stand by holding onto the argument of Islamic democracy. However, democracy has a similar meaning and results in the East and the West.